Thesaurus results for HEADSMAN

headsman

noun

Definition of headsman

as in executioner

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of headsman There’s dungeons or the headsman’s block for someone with that many secrets to spill. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026 Two other men, subjects of excellent Holbein drawings in the show, would keep appointments with the headsman. — Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022 Once upon a time, the queen could have sent rebels to the Tower and the headsman’s block, even relatives—especially relatives. — Matt Seaton, The New York Review of Books, 9 Mar. 2021 The British prime minister has assembled a trio of headsmen to sever Britain from the mainland. — Vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, 22 Mar. 2017 Several other leading figures of the period ended their days on the executioner’s block, including the unhappy Comte de Chalais, whose headsman bungled the job and ended up frantically chopping away at his screaming victim with a small hatchet. — David A. Bell, Foreign Affairs, 1 Mar. 2012

Recent Examples of Synonyms for headsman

Noun

During the execution procedure on Christa Pike, executioners struggled to place IV lines, causing the pentobarbital to flow into her body rather than her bloodstream, according to Pike’s attorneys.

— Rebekah Riess, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026
Prisoners have suffered for long periods as executioners fail to find a suitable vein.

— New York Times, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of executioner

Noun

The former cop also claimed to have found a hangman’s noose under Epstein’s mattress.

— Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 16 June 2026
Even-handed, compassionate, and as suffocatingly tense as a hangman's noose, Munich is Spielberg's most underrated film.

— Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly, 13 June 2026

Definition of hangman

Noun

After Simpson’s death in 1986, her estate (led by Blum, the executor) auctioned off more than 230 lots of jewels and other pieces at a massive two-day sale at Sotheby’s in Geneva.

— Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 7 Oct. 2026
When Hanne, a staff member of a struggling animal rescue, unexpectedly becomes executor of a wealthy hunting family’s estate, a bitter battle over the inheritance erupts.

— Annika Pham, Variety, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of executor

Noun

Related Stories To uncover the truth, Emma has no choice but to return to the Breton island of Kerlann, where tragedy struck and where everyone rejects her — including her son, who sees her as his father’s murderer.

— Ed Meza, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026
Theron won the Best Actress Oscar for her turn as the notorious murderer.

— Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of murderer

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“Headsman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headsman. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of headsman

noun

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